


You may not rest now

by burningthevoid



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternative Universe - Minecraft, Gen, Light Angst, Minecraft Mechanics, Monsters, Platonic Relationships, Sleep Deprivation, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:41:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27964718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/burningthevoid/pseuds/burningthevoid
Summary: There's a glitch in the system, or so George would assume. Because why else would the world refuse him his rest, insisting that he was in danger? He was safe and sound, in a village with all his group and his two best friends.What kind of monster would lurk in the night, soundless and invisible, ignoring the people and the lights?He needed to know, but sometimes the answers are not the ones we want to hear.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), GeorgeNotFound & Wilbur Soot
Comments: 8
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Rated T for swears and general ambiance. 
> 
> I will try to update as soon as possible but I'm not really good with scheduling, so I'll do what I can! Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy, and don't hesitate to leave a comment if you feel like it!

George was always tired. It was a fact, and it was nowadays a joke in the camp they shared with their friends. George the sleeper. George the napper. Always in bed, always away from the action. It was the punchline when someone asked where he was or what he was doing. It was the answer someone would probably shout across the camp when his chores weren’t done. The running gag between friends that didn’t mean any harm, but that also didn’t ask why.

Because who would actually want to spend all their time away, laying in bed with eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling while the system fucked him over, not allowing him to sleep during the day, just to rest uneasily, sun burning through the window in his room. When he was up and about, it was usually a weirdly slow dance, arms and fingers deft with practice and strong with experience, but movements sluggish and clumsiness brought from a severe lack of energy. His large goggles acted as a protection, not only against the aggressive light of the day, but also against the stares he knew he would get if someone could see the dark, purplish bags under his eyes.

It hadn’t always been like that. He was fine until few weeks ago, until they decided to finally take a longer break at an abandoned village, refurbishing the half destroyed houses and taking care of the gardens to replenish their food stock. Sapnap and Dream had taken a house on each side of George’s one, and the two dumbasses had took opportunity of one of his mining trip to link the three small buildings together. He had scowled when he saw the newly built additions, but his lips had twitched in a fond smile anyway. He couldn’t bring himself to mind, not with the sheepish way Sapnap was rubbing at his nose and the way Dream was jumping on his heels in excitement.

It had been easy to be forgiving when he was just happy about having a roof over his head, fresh food and a place to relax.

The first week, half the camp was out, scavenging resources and gathering animals while the other half tended to the village. He had been mostly alone during that week, as both Dream and Sapnap had been asked to go mine, while he was stuck on fishing duty with Tubbo at the river right behind the old forge. It had been nice to have something so easy, the teen almost incessant but enjoyable chatter filing the silence that could have been heavy without his two best friends. He had slept like a baby, finally feeling safe after all those months of constant travelling.

The second week had been fine. Mostly. It was basically when it started going wrong, but he didn’t really knew yet to what extent it would go. The first night it happened, he had been surprised, but not thrown off. The system window popped in existence in his vision, announcing the problem.

_You may not rest now, there are monsters nearby._

He had walked to the window, peeking outside curiously. There was no weird noises, no groaning or rattles, no weird sights, no glowing purple eyes or duller red ones. He still grabbed his sword, twirling it in his hand and carefully went around the house, looking out for any silhouettes in the dark. He was left puzzled after he went around, getting less and less cautious as he realized he couldn’t see anything. He went back in, thinking the creatures wandered away, but the message popped out again, making him huff in annoyance.

He spent the night awake, pouting as he rearranged his chests, organized his inventory and repaired the few tools that were about to break. When the first few sun rays shyly peeked through his window, he sighed and went to work with everyone else, keeping his back straight and making sure nothing looked amiss.

The second night was a few days later, well after he had guessed it was a glitch in the system, a small bug like they encountered often. Like grass floating above the water or the floating islands cleanly cut in half in the high hills biome they had travelled through. He hadn’t worried about it too much. But after a long day of being on chopping trees, he was more than ready for bed. The stars had barely started to twinkle above their heads when he called it a night. Sapnap was already in his own place, probably also getting ready to sleep, and Dream followed him close behind, wishes of good nights fading behind him as he reached the outskirt of the village, where they were staying.

He yawned and waved tiredly at the blonde who nodded back at him before pushing the door open and disappearing behind it. He did the same, opening his chest and emptying his inventory in preparation for the night. He used the water in his cauldron to wash his face, cleaning the dirt and ash clinging to his skin from their usual night around the campfire, before slumping onto his bed, eyes already closing in exhaustion. He stayed still for a few seconds before realizing he was not falling into slumber like he was supposed to, and, to his utmost disappointment, the alert popped again.

_You may not rest now, there are monsters nearby._

He growled unhappily, getting up to look through the window. It felt strangely unnatural, the clear sky and the round moon more than enough to make him see up to the forest border, which was far enough to be none of his concern. Nothing moved in the pale light, the meadow clear and still in the dim light. He pinched his lips, turning on his heels to open the front door slightly. He could still see the fire, high and crackling, a dozen of people still sitting around without a care. Surely if something was walking around, they would have done something. So nothing in that direction either. He was secured on each side by the two others houses, so it couldn’t be from there either. If something was on the roof, he would certainly hear it.

The last place would be under the house, but he couldn’t risk mining alone at night under the village. And he didn’t want to drag the whole camp into this, so he sat on his bed, staring blankly at the wall, and promised himself to go check for a cave system during the next day.

And so he did.

During the two next weeks, he searched desperately. Rounded the house, put a torchgrid around it, mined under the foundations to find absolutely nothing, He didn’t mention anything, because everyone else seemed to be sleeping just fine, and he didn’t want to alarm them with something that was his own problem. It was like his house in itself was cursed. When Sapnap left for two days on a small trip to a nearby village, George took the opportunity to try and sleep in the younger’s bed, to see what would happen, and to his surprise he did get a shut eye that night. The next night was the same, but as soon as he was back into his own bed, the alarm popped up.

_You may not rest now, there are monsters nearby._

He got few nights in again on the next mining trip, and at that point he was basically wishing for another trip but he was getting too lethargic to be really useful. _Lazy_ , they would say, rolling their eyes in his back and shaking their heads. As if he didn’t spend all of his time helping out and giving everything he had before the system banned him from sleep. Sometimes, his streak of sleepless night was so long that the flying nightmares, as they called them, spawned right over his house, turning around it menacingly. The others didn’t think about it too much, mainly pushing the blame on Dream who was known for skipping nights to hunt them down sometimes.

But they didn’t ask.

And George didn’t tell.

Of course Sapnap and Dream started getting a bit worried, fretting when he felt faint with the lack of sleep and pampering him when he looked too unwell, but what could they do? All the other houses were occupied, and his friends looked downright upset when he told them he was thinking about seeking another place to stay. So he didn’t, catching some shut eyes during too short nights from time to time, and praying it would end when they decided to move to another place.

But it had been almost a full month, and his sanity was hanging by a bare thread that was dangerously close to snap. People could feel it and kept away from him, leaving him be, almost not talking to him. He didn’t know if it helped or just made him feel more alone, his nights already full of nothing and no one, and his days now similar. His best friends had left in the morning to go explore the dark forest on the west side of the village, deciding to do an overnight exploration and try to find the woodland mansion that was indicated on a map that they had received from a villager. Techno, Sapnap and Tommy were the only ones that decided to follow Dream, but they promised to not enter the mansion at any sign of danger.

It could have been a small miracle that the following night, he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Could have been a coincidence that the system let up his hold on him and let him rest.

But when he woke up, his mind was ablaze with questions.

He had to know the specifications of his torments. He already had noted down some things that were recurrent, like the fact that he could sleep if he was in Sapnap’s room. He also could if he was in Dream’s. Being away from home also allowed him to rest, and everything pointed toward his own bed being the problem, except from the fact that _he could sometime sleep._ So his house wasn’t the problem either, and neither was his bed.

The only thing that came back again and again was the fact that he could sleep if he was away from his friends, or if they weren’t there.

But there was no way, right? No way that was the real answer to his problem.

So he waited, once again, eyes full of doubts as his friends came back home, chattering away with their eyes stuck to the maps they were carrying. He watched carefully as they ate, and worked, and talked. And when the night came, he waited until they were both home to try and sleep. His stomach dropped to his feet as soon as his trembling fingers grabbed the duvet.

_You may not rest now, there are monsters nearby._

And with the start of this new restless night, he curled his body in the corner of his room, eyes flickering between the doors on each side of the room, the ones leading to his friends’ houses.

Waiting for the sun to come back up, mind full of a new knowledge that he wished so hard to not have.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In his camp, everyone is important. But even when everyone is important, there's level of priorities. Those who can take care of themselves are low on his list, because he trusts them. Those with close friends within the group are also lower, since they have others that can watch out for them.
> 
> George is both of those, and still, for some unclear reason, Wilbur gets his hands full of an absolutely miserable young man who's more than a few days late on a good night sleep. How has it came down to that?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning, not much added to the story in this chapter, it's really a fill-in to get to the next one. Still, I hope you'll enjoy a different point of view on the situation and a bit more information about the background of the story!

It was easy to notice that something was wrong, in his opinion. Oh, of course, things had been weird for a few weeks now, and he couldn’t hide the fact that it was somewhat bothering him, but usually he waited until someone actually asked for help before meddling. But this time, it was the kind of wrongness that he could definitely not shrug off and go on his merry way. He had a lot of responsibilities, and couldn’t always give his attention to everyone, so he usually focused on urgent matters first, like making sure the well didn’t dry up and that the crops were taken care of, and that Tommy didn’t burn a house by mistake _because it already happened twice._

George’s struggles were not his on his priority list, mainly because he was one of the oldest of the group, meaning he knew how to take care of himself. The trio had joined them late in their travels, and he had been extremely glad to have them to add some sort of layer of protection to the group. They were all extremely talented, Sapnap having completed his studies with a cleric, able to make potions with his eyes close and his hands tied behind his back, Dream being the one who went to the End world and came back to tell the tale, and George with his sword mastery and, honestly, probably the only one who had an ounce of common sense between the three of them.

So yes, he had to admit that when George started showing sign of distress, he didn’t really react. It could have been anything at that point, and usually when the brown haired man was unwell, his two companions took care of him. He was surprised when the two younger of the trio didn’t do anything, but he had to admit that the oldest did his best to hide it. Probably gave some sort of excuse for his behavior so no one would ask questions.

So he didn’t.

When words started spreading around, Fundy grumbling about the brunet’s laziness, Tommy whining about the way he sometimes struggled with menial tasks, and Tubbo worrying when he looked like he could barely get out of bed without stumbling, he still waited. Kept repeating the same reasons, that he was a grown man, that he could take care of himself, that he had friends to look out for him. He said it so many, many times that his tongue felt numb around the words, throat catching on his voice.

Something was definitely wrong, and at this point he probably had to do something about it.

But nothing could prepare him for how wrong it could become.

It was the day after the small group came back from the forest mansion, bringing some information to him about it so they could plan a raid and get the loot from it. Surely that big of a place, filled with human formed mobs, would be good to get rarer items that they would probably need at some point or the other. To plan properly, he had appointed Philza, Badboyhalo and George for a meeting, so they could discuss strategy and planning with Techno and him.

To say he was shocked when George dragged himself in would be an euphemism.

Even with half his face hidden by the wide goggles, he could still see how pale he was, his usually fair completion almost translucent in the sunlight filtering through the slightly tinted windows. His hair were wild like he’d never seen before, in a way that he knew wouldn’t happen without hands pulling on them. And he was shaking, badly enough that he could see it clearly even from a distance. Before anyone could take place, he raised from his own seat and grabbed the slightly younger man by the arm, gently, almost wincing when the smaller snapped his face toward him, the glasses hiding his reaction but his body language screaming confusion.

“I need to speak to you privately before the meeting.”

The other brunet barely reacted as he was pulled into another room, door closing behind them right after he glared at the people around the table to hint at them to stay there. No words were exchanged for a good amount of time, George staring at him with a blank expression on his pallid face, eyes hidden behind the colored glass of his goggles but lips pinched tightly. There was no way he didn’t know why he was pulled aside, but he didn’t look like he wanted to talk about it. But it was affecting him too much now, and in this situation it could eventually put the camp in jeopardy. And they both knew that.

“Wilbur, listen-”

“I will listen only if you actually tell me what is going on, George. I’ve gave you your space, I’ve waited for you to either say something, or for Dream and Sapnap to do-”

He was almost shocked into silence with the way George flinched like he was hit at the mention of his friends. He took a minute to swallow the new information, choosing his words carefully when he started talking again, not wanting the other man to run from his problems like he knew he had the habit to do.

“Did... something happen with them?”

“No! No, nothing happened. Nothing is wrong, Wilbur, I’m fine.”

He couldn’t help but snort derisively at the statement. There was no way George wanted him to believe that. They were both smart enough to know that this kind of lie wouldn’t even get close to convince anyone, and even less either of them. The younger had crossed his arms nervously now, very aware of the fact that he was not getting out of this without a good reason for his predicament. He rolled his eyes and lightly pushed at his chest, making him stumble back and fall into a chair.

“You’re very fine, yes. So fine that I could poke you and you would fall down. If you don’t want to tell me, fine. But you have to tell someone, because you literally can’t go on like that.”

“It’s just a small glitch in the system, okay, nothing to worry about-”

“A small glitch? A small glitch is when Badboyhalo got stuck because his boat sunk in the sand with him in it. Or when we were in the icy biome and Techno kept falling into holes because snow was floating over them. Or when Dream was suspended like a bat in a tree because his elytra wouldn’t deactivate. Glitches don’t make people look like they are about to die, George, and _small_ glitches even less.”

Silence fell upon them once again, George looking so uncomfortable that it felt like he could touch the uneasiness floating around his body. He sighed, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck as his gaze flickered toward the door, trying to think of who would be better fitted for the situation than him. He knew Bad and George were closer than most of them, but he was also closer to Sapnap and Dream, which could be a problem in this situation. Philza was very good at emotional strains, had the soul of a healer, but he doubted that the paternal personality of the man would incite George into talking. He couldn’t really think of anyone else that was compassionate or sympathetic enough, but he offered nonetheless.

“You have to speak to someone, George. If it won’t be me, it still has to be someone. And it has to be now. I can’t allow you more space than I gave you, it was already a mistake and I won’t let it slide anymore.”

The brunet seemed to curl on himself, shoulders high and head hanging low. There was something uncomfortable in watching him, a pit in his stomach that was filling with dread. The younger had the tendency to be a bit dramatic, but he never was over exaggerating this type of negativity. Quite the opposite, as he usually made sure to hide it as much as he could.

“Can I... would it be okay if I spoke with Techno?”

“Techno?”

His reaction was a bit too immediate, the smaller flinching in answer. He lifted his hands to show that he meant no harm, but his brain was still going a mile a second. Techno was definitely not in his list of possible choices, and he could literally not figure a single reason of why he would prefer him to any other person in the camp. Hell, he would probably himself chose to talk about his problems with Tommy before going to Techno, but that might be related to the fact that the hybrid took a quite sadistic pleasure of making fun of him before helping him.

“I mean if you want to, I can get him for you. But Techno...”

Techno only helped those particularly close to him. He had very wise advice when it came to strategy and planning, and was a good teacher for battle related activity, but he was not exactly the type of problem solver someone went to when it came to _being unable to sleep._ He stared at the other man for a moment, almost waiting for him to change his mind, but sighed quietly when he saw the determination in his eyes.

“Fine. Fine, I’ll get him. I can’t promise he will be of any help, thought.”

“He... he probably will.”

He bowed his head in resignation and turn on his heels, walking out of the room and ignoring the confused and worried expression of the others. He slide his eyes to the pink haired man and made a vague gesture toward the door.

“He won’t tell me what is going on, but he’s willing to talk about it with you.”

The silence that followed was almost heavier than the one that strained the few first minutes of the little meeting he had with George. He couldn’t blame them; even he didn’t understand why that choice was made. The war strategist took a minute to take in the information, looking baffled and taken aback by the request. His voice was carefully blank of any emotion when he spoke up.

“He wants to talk with me?”

“I did tell him it was a bad idea, if I were to be honest with you. But if that’s what it takes, please give it a shot.”

The man shrugged and got up from his seat, sliding in the small space between him and the door. He watched him disappear behind the wooden panel and didn’t even hide the fact that he was eavesdropping, ignoring the accusing glare of Badboyhalo. He didn’t hear anything for quite a while, and was honestly waiting for Techno to just get out without really trying, until he heard the smallest voice, coupled with words that made his blood feel like liquid ice.

“Are people able to sleep around you, Techno?”


End file.
